Showing posts with label The House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The House. Show all posts

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Puzzles for renovators

Or how to make a stone hearth:

So this is what Ross and I spent the weekend doing, a giant stone puzzle.  We had the Cannon Fitzroy gas fire installed before last winter, which was money well spent, it seriously heats up half the house! Since then it has been sitting in it's frame, albeit with a mantelpiece, waiting for us to get around to doing the stone surround.


So end of summer we have finally got around to it!  We started by laying all the bits of stone out on the deck so we could see the size and shape of each piece easily.


Ross hard at work!  I helped by documenting (ie. I took photos!) and occasionally held the odd bit of stone in place so that he could take a step back and survey his workmanship.



Now to grout it!  So pleased with how it is looking so far though.






As for how we built the bench seat.... I did take photos at the various stages but unfortunately I can't access them at the moment as they are all stored on the back up thingy and I have no idea how to get to them and Ross is in a conference at the moment and being most unhelpful.  ie. ignoring my phone calls and text messages!



So I have included a bunch of photos of it and maybe if you have any specific questions about it Jane email me and I will get Ross to answer them for you!


For those that asked, yes there is storage underneath it!








Ross did all the hard work here, although I did paint it and organise the cushions!  My tip on the cushions... shop around!  I rang a dozen different upholsterers and the prices were varied to the extreme ranging from $400 to $1500!!!!  I went with the $400 quote and am so pleased with his work that I will be using him again.  For the fabric I used a sunbrella outdoor fabric and went for the darkest navy that they had.  Again, shop around for the fabric.  I ended up sourcing mine from a sail manufacturer who imported it and was happy to sell me a few metres.  Best thing about it I can practically hose it down when the boys have finished eating!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The red bed...



We had the Captain's old iron bed powder coated red and I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am with the end result.  I wanted the bed to be a little pop of colour in amongst everything else and it most definitely is!


The powder coat guy thought that I was crazy choosing red.  He questioned my husband when he dropped the bed off and even rang me to confirm that I was going to spend "good money powder coating a bed lipstick red."  Oh yes I happily reassured him, although I do prefer fire engine red as a description for it!


Now I just need to hang some art on the walls... what to do, what to do...


I seriously can't stop grinning at how good that bed looks and I have now got my beady little eyes fixed on the bed in the spare room!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Hurrah... I have a computer again!

I started to write a long and lengthy post trying to explain about the rather difficult past 3 months we have just had but in the interests of keeping things in perspective, ie.  there are others that that have to cope with so much more on a daily basis that I decided to abandon it and instead update you all as what we have been doing.

I will say though that as we haven't had a computer for the past 6 weeks (details were in the explanation now abandoned!) and have moved out of the house twice and been on holidays, also twice, that blogging and all that it entails were temporarily put on hold.   Apologies to those that I alarmed with my lengthy absence and Jane a card will be in the post on Monday to you my lovely!


The house is now painted. The colours that we ended up choosing are Dulux Oyster Linen and Taubmans Aspen Snow for the trims.  A lot of people have emailed me about the colour of the house.  The number is actually mind boggling.... anyway, if I haven't replied to your email yet I apologise and am getting around to everyone slowly.  Hopefully I will answer all the questions here now:  Oyster Linen is not on the standard colour chart but if you go into Dulux or Bunnings they will be able to mix a sample pot for you.  It is full strength.  The front door is Dulux Domino in a gloss finish.


The little blue strip above the door is yet to be painted!




The inside is very slowly getting there...


My clever clogs husband built the bench seat! Well, he/we did most of the work inside the house!



It is a lovely spot for a cup of tea in the morning, actually just lovely all the time! The floors are blackbutt with a matt finish.



The laundry is in, I absolutely love the long bench top but do not recommend the product.  Ceaserstone Snow and it stains if you just look at it with a cup of coffee, some red wine or even a slice of fruit... don't ask... Unless you are considering using it somewhere, in which case be aware that it STAINS easily. VERY EASILY.  It does look nice though.






Will do some more house updates soon but in the meantime the Pirates are well.  We had a fabulous break at the beach house.



They are both their father's sons and love the surf.  The little one, although quite a proficient swimmer scares me with his confidence.  He is always the smallest person out in the surf.


He started pre-school last week.  First time away from me and I was prepared for tears and drama.  Nothing.  Indeed, the little traitor practically rolled his eyes at me when I was saying goodbye.




I will be along to visit all of you soon!  xx

Thursday, November 3, 2011

so this is what has been keeping me busy....


The inside of the house has required some attention....  when we tackelled the original parts of the house internally we encountered some problems. The old termite damage is not the problem though... the floors weren't level and not one of the walls was straight!!!!  To put the new floor in and the new kitchen... we need level and straight.  Consequently, we have been very busy and as a result the blog and blog visits had to be put on hold.  Nevertheless, I have loved every minute of this renovation though and I have learnt so many new skills.  I have watched the tradesmen and Ross closely and am learning fast.  I feel confident helping to put gyprock up on a wall or ceiling and am quite the dab hand with a paint brush.  These days I don't even bother with the blue tape!

Life outside of the renovation has been equally busy.  Both my little pirates are growing fast.  There is so much to catch up on here and I have many blog posts planned but for the time being I will just document the last couple of months with some photos:


We spent a couple of weeks in Canberra, chez Grandma and Grandpa.

So we did a bunch of touristy stuff.

Canberra has some seriously cool playgrounds!

I can actually remember playing at this one, so it has to be around about 30 years old!

We went to the Fred Williams exhibition where Nicasso spent some time creating a Williams inspired masterpiece in the childrens room!

Every visit to Canberra the Captain asks to visit this installation by James Turrell in the grounds of the NGA.


Mt Stromlo (well what's left of it after the bushfires...)




The succulent garden in the backyard is finally starting to take off!


The bench seat in the dining room... can't wait till this is finished!

Front garden looking stunning at the moment.

Main bathroom is finished... we decided to go ahead and create the wet room area,  The best decision,  no more stressing about my two little ducks creating havoc in the bath. 



Halloween 2011... the little one is supposed to be Huckle Cat... he changed his mind at the last minute.  Fortunately, we did have some Lederhosen in the house. 







Ah well... I did my best with what we had in the house!



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